Of the 4.6 million tons of solid waste generated in Oklahoma every year, only 1% is recycled. Currently, only ˜2% of discarded carpet (270 million pounds out of 200 million tons) is recycled through recycling programs in the United States. This represents a significant environmental burden on our landfills, a tax burden due to certain state sponsored subsidies, and a lost economic opportunity. The last factor is driven by the lack of high-value, engineering-oriented applications that could leverage advances in manufacturing technology to utilize waste to deliver commercially viable products. These advanced engineered materials are expected to have specific applications in a variety of fields ranging from sound protection of civil infrastructure to tooling materials for aerospace structures.
The carpet industry is a $10 billion-plus dollar industry. Over 3 million tons of carpet is produced every year and about 2 million tons are discarded. Overall in the United States, carpet accounts for about 1% of municipal solid waste by weight and 2% by volume. This is not a small amount.
What is needed is a system and method for addressing the above and related concerns.